


The Guardian is a Tomato

by TickyMikky



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: BAMF Nathaniel Kurtzburg, Bisexual Nathaniel Kurtzberg, Can you Guess Who my Favourite Character is?, Everybody Love Nathaniel, F/F, F/M, M/M, Multi, Nathaniel Gets a Harem, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, pairings undetermined
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-06
Updated: 2020-12-29
Packaged: 2021-03-07 00:28:47
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,948
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26317966
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TickyMikky/pseuds/TickyMikky
Summary: With the introduction of Hawkmoth and Akuma's threatening everyone's safety, new heroes must rise to protect the city of Paris. Along with them? a new Guardian is chosen to help them along the way.Master Fu realises that he is too old and has made too many mistakes in the past to continue the role of Guardian. So, decides to hand it over to someone new, how does this effect the show?
Relationships: Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir & Nathaniel Kurtzberg, Alix Kubdel & Nathaniel Kurtzberg, Chloé Bourgeois & Nathaniel Kurtzberg, Juleka Couffaine & Nathaniel Kurtzberg, Luka Couffaine & Nathaniel Kurtzberg, Marc Anciel & Nathaniel Kurtzberg, Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug & Nathaniel Kurtzberg, Nathaniel Kurtzberg & Rose Lavillant, Nathaniel Kurtzburg & Kwami's, Nathaniel Kurtzburg & Master Fu
Comments: 19
Kudos: 27





	1. Ladybug and Chat Noir (Part 1)

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Guardian Nath](https://archiveofourown.org/works/25296415) by [Sinnamon_Troll](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sinnamon_Troll/pseuds/Sinnamon_Troll). 



~~A.A~~  
A flash of soft yellow sped past a large billboard of the new successful perfume brand ‘Eau De Parfum. The face of the young boy in the image matching the one of the panting blonde that paused in front of it, taking a few seconds to catch his breath before continuing his mad dash to the large building that was now in his sights.

Adrien Agreste ran as fast as he could, trying to outrun the growing noise of a car’s engine that he could now clearly hear behind him. He was so close, the school was just across the road now, if he could just keep the current distance between him and the car he would be through those doors in a minutes time.

He knew that, that was physically impossible for a human, let alone a teenage boy to accomplish. Still, he tried to believe that if he just kept going, didn’t look back, then even when it caught up, they would just let him go.

The car screeched to a holt just as he finished crossing the road, his carer and a bodyguard exiting the car to follow him to the school’s entrance.

“Adrien, please reconsider. You know what your father wants.” Nathalie called to him, making him stop halfway up the flight of stairs. Despite knowing it wasn’t a good idea, that he should just continue on, he looked back to try and reason with her. He felt like curling up and hiding once he saw her stern expression.

“But this is what I want.” He managed to force past his lips, trying to convey the desperation, sadness and longing he feels on the matter. He wanted to say more, tell her how he was suffocating at home with only paid tutors and his father’s constant dissatisfaction as his only human interaction, that he wanted to just feel normal rather than a possession to show off and then lock up when not needed and to just have a reason to smile at least once a day.

But he couldn’t, his words were lodged in his throat under her stare of disapproval.

A groan of discomfort was what brought him out of the small standoff. He turns his head towards the direction of the noise in confusion before finding the source. It was an old man. He was just next to Nathalie’s parked car, hunched over on his hands and knee’s trying to reach for his cane. The person next to him didn’t even notice him, walking past without a care as the old man tried again to reach for the wooden stick but stopped with another grown which Adrien recognised as pain and defeat.

Adrien didn’t have to think, he races down the stairs passed Nathalie towards the man’s direction. Stopping in front of the bent figure, he crouched down to grab the cane before reaching a hand out to steady and help lift him from the floor. Gently grabbed the older man’s arm to help pull him up, he was greeted by the sight of another hand also grabbing the limb.

Blinking in surprise, he followed the hand’s arm to come face to face with the owner, which he found was a young boy his age. Adrien was rendered shocked at the blazing colour of red surrounding and framing the boy’s face and it took him a few seconds to registered that is was actually the boy’s hair rather than literal fire. A single blue eye looked back at him, the other covered by the fringe falling over the boy’s face.

With Adrien being a model, he has seen producers recommending to other individuals to change the way they look to provide a more desirable picture or simply they weren’t happy with themselves. He knows others, including Nathalie, that have dyed their hair different colours ranging from blonde, black, to even blue and red. By this point Adrien can now tell what was real and what was not and never in his life has he met someone with such bright red hair paired with such contrasting eyes. The fact that they were both natural really stood out to him.

It took Adrien a few seconds to realise he was staring at the boy who was now giving him a confused look and that the old man still needed to be lifted up. With the assistance of the other boy, they helped the old man find his feet and correcting his balance before letting go. Adrien then proceeded to hold out the cane for the old man to take, which he did with a smile.

“Thank you young man, and thank you Nath” he said to Adrien with a bow of his head, before turning his head to the other boy to also give his thanks, drawing Adrien’s interest back to the boy.

The boy smiled at the old man before directing his attention to Adrien, giving him a small shy smile that spoke of gratitude.

“Thank you for helping my grandfather. I’m not sure what would of happened if either of us were not here to help him. I swear that every time I turn my back on him, he always finds a way to get himself into trouble.” Humour had leaked into the boy’s voice about halfway through his statement, confidence entering his eyes and his shoulders relaxing as he moved his attention away from Adrien to tilt his head up towards his ‘grandfather’ (Adrien couldn’t see a resemblance but he wasn’t going to assume anything), a playful smile replacing his earlier shy one as the older man let out an embarrassed laugh.

Adrien scratched the back of his neck as a light blush from both the boy’s and the old man’s gratitude formed on his cheeks. 

“It was no problem.” It really hadn’t been a problem; he hadn’t even thought about the situation before he was moving to help. He smiled at the other boy to prove his statement true when it suddenly hit him that he hadn’t introduced himself to ether of them.

“My name is Adrien A-, sorry for not introducing myself earlier.” He stopped himself from saying his last name. He wasn’t sure how the boy would react to his status of being famous but from experience, most people not working directly with his family always had the same reaction and for once he just wanted others to see him as just Adrien rather the Adrien Agreste.

Of course, Adrien thought about it and realised that he may have never had a chance to cover who he was, with two people arriving in an expensive car for him and a literal billboard with his face on it behind him, close enough that anyone close by could see it. Somehow though, the boy managed to surprise him again.

“My name is Nathaniel, and this is my grandfather Wang Fu, It’s nice to meet you.” The boy didn’t respond to his name, there was no sign of recognition in his facial features at all. Adrien felt a wave of happiness flow through him, he could start fresh with someone.

“Do you go to this school?” There was definitely excitement in his voice and Adrien couldn’t find it in himself to feel embarrassed by sounding to eager, he was after all talking to hopefully one of his future school friends. The boy, Nathaniel, responded with a nod.

“I do, but I won’t be attending today as I need to help escort my grandfather to a few places. I had just ran in to hand in my absence letter to the principle, to inform my teacher of this year that I’m not wagging. Though you should probably hurry since class has already started, if I’m right in assuming your new here?” Nathaniel asked, adjusting the book he was holding to give a glance at the watch on his wrist, double checking the time. Adrien made a noise at fact that class had already started.

The two were interrupted from their conversation but a throat clearing. Adrien glanced behind him to be greeted with the sight of an annoyed Nathalie tapping here foot impatiently and with her arms crossed in front of her. The guard behind her had moved, now his frame was blocking any possible entry to the school via the stairs.

Adrien had missed his chance.

The boy looked away from the scene, his shoulders slumping defeat.

“No, I’m not…” he muttered, gazing down at the ground but still keeping the other boy in sight. Nathaniel looked towards Adrien’s two carers with an unamused raised eye brow before looking back at the disheartened boy, giving him a sympathetic but comforting smile.

“That sucks. Hopefully things work out for you though.” He said, making Adrien smile for a second before he turned around and started walking back towards the stairs, where the two adults waited for him.

“I just wanted to go to school like everyone else, what’s wrong with that?” he whispered, looking up into the stern eyes of Nathalie before bowing his head.

“Please don’t tell my father about this.” She didn’t reply, simply turning on her heel and making her way towards the car. Adrien felt the firm hand of the bodyguard on his upper back, preventing him from bolting as he was lead to the car as well.

Just as his door was opened for him, he spied Nathaniel in the same spot next to his grandfather (Adrien cringed when he realised he completely ignored the elder after introducing himself) by the school. The red head made eye contacted and waved goodbye, which Adrien responded with his own before he stepped into the car and the door closed.

~~N.K~~  
Once the car had driven out of sight, Fu straightened his back and gave his cane a twirl before placing it on his shoulder. Nathaniel turned to him with a hand on his waist, looking at the older man with judging eyes.

“Seriously Master? That’s the 6th time today. Can you be any more dramatic?” He grouched, earning him a laugh Fu who also gave him a mischievous look.

-Flashback-

Nathaniel had just arrived at, in his opinion, one of the best bakeries in Paris to pick up is pre ordered desserts. Boulangerie Patisserie hadn’t even opened up yet, but the owners, his fellow classmate’s parents were kind enough to let him in once they saw him waiting outside. While Tom had went to grab his order, Sabine had made small talk with him while they waited, about school and work. When Tom had returned with a large box, Nathaniel had thanked the both of them for the order and the allowing him to take it early with a smile before making his leave, a different individual arriving from the upstairs of the bakery as he closed the door behind him.

Stepping off to the side, he opened the box to check the contents within. 26 colourful mini cakes greeted his sight, each having a different flavouring and topping to suit the tastes of a certain group of friends he has. He wrinkled his nose when the familiar awful smell of Camembert hit him and he glared at one of the mini cakes which had the disgusting cheese used as a topping. Closing the lid after confirming all of the requested cakes were in there (and to lock up that awful smell) he opened his backpack and placing it gently inside.

The bakery’s door suddenly opened with a loud band, nearly hitting him from where he was positioned as a blue headed girl started jogging towards the crosswalk nearby. Clutching his shirt over his rapidly beating heart and calming down from his near experience with death’s door, he shouldered the bag and moved from behind the now closed door to see the person responsible.

When he caught a glimpse of his childhood friend and first crush, he rolled his eyes good naturedly, feeling his growing angry disappear. He has always been unable to hold a grudge against the clumsy girl.

He was cut from his musings when he heard a horrified gasp. Head shooting up with concern and curiosity, he saw Marinette looking at the crosswalk while covering her mouth with a look of horror as she stared onward at the road. 

About halfway across, with the green light now signalling for cars to go, was Master Fu taking his sweet time to cross the road even with a car now approaching.

“Dammit!” Nathaniel mumbles as he starts sprinting towards the road, only to slow down to a walk when he sees Marinette already by Fu’s side and franticly pulling him away from the car and towards the sidewalk. Sighing in relief, Nathaniel advanced towards the pair to ask if they were both ok, only to miss Marinette by a few seconds as she says thanks to Master Fu for his complement on one of her remaining intact macaroons and continues her run towards school. He’s disappointed that he didn’t get to say hello but he had another issue to address.

“You’re going to give me a heart attack! You are lucky that Marinette was there.” Nathaniel grumbled. Fu didn’t even try to look sorry as he pulled out a small wooden box with red markings from his pocket.

“So that was the nice girl you kept talking about.” Fu hummed, looking back towards the bakery. Nathaniel was looking between the box and the direction Marinette ran off to with a surprised look.

-End flashback-

“Over the top? Yes. Necessary? Also, yes” Fu comments, making Nathaniel roll his eyes sigh at his master’s antics.

“Have you made a decision?” Nathaniel settles on asking rather then the older man’s mental state, turning away from him to look towards the direction the car had taken. Fu hums at his question before nodding with a determined look in his eyes, walking off into a direction away from the school. Nathaniel looks back at him and huffs, cheeks puffing and reddening with slight anger when he sees him walking off without him, jogging to catch up and follow him.


	2. Ladybug and Chat Noir Part 2

~~N.K~~  
The two figures looked up at the looming structure that was the Agreste’s house, or as they found out, the Agreste Mansion.

Nathaniel has only ever seen buildings this big or grand when they were historical, for education or were supposed to house more than 50 people. Yet this building supposedly houses only two family members and a couple of servants and bodyguards.

The red headed boy gaped at the mansion in surprise and awe while Master Fu simply glanced at it with determination, holding the box containing the Cat miraculous in his hand.

“I…I didn’t know that the guy was THIS loaded…” Nathaniel whispered, still unable to get over his shock at the sight. Compared to his friends and the others in his class while he wasn’t the richest, he was considered pretty well off in terms of money, even with the situation going on with his parents. The display before him however? proves that this family beats even the Bourgeois’s, who have a leading figure in the political world and a famous magazine director.

He would of never had pegged Adrien as a boy from such a rich family with the meeting they just had. He had been nice and polite, if not a bit shy and socially awkward, just like him. His only experience with kids from the higher class were through his parent’s business meetings that he had attended, he always felt so exposed and vile when going home from all the gossip and backstabbing that went on within the gatherings. 

They made him glad that Chloe was the only one within their school, she may be a bitch but she was nowhere near that extreme. 

“It’s one of the reasons why I chose him.” Master Fu spoke up, turning to the Nathaniel. “A young boy from with a wealthy upbringing not letting his life of privilege cloud his opinions of others around him. A boy kind to those who need help and is willing to put his wants aside to keep others out of harm’s way. The characteristics of a hero.” He smiled as he recalled what he had observed earlier today and discovered just now.

“Uh Huh. How long did it take you to think and rehearse that? Master, you don’t watch TV, let along read trash magazines or keep up with news. There is no way you would have known or thought about all of that just after the first encounter.” Nathaniel teased, laughing when the older man let out a insulted noise at his mockery. He squatted down and opened his bag, rummaging through it after gently pulling the mini cake box out.

“That being said, I’ve never met him until today and from what I have seen he’s a good choice. You’ve got no objections from me. Plagg is going to drive him up a wall in a week though.” Nathanial added the last part with a small laugh, feeling sad but also finding humour in leaving someone with the pesky cat Kwarmi. He finally found what he was looking for, a red bandanna with the fire bending symbol on it and a black and red box similar to the one Master Fu was holding. Opening the box revealed the orange thumb ring inside.

Just moments after opening the box, the ring flashes and a bright silhouette appears before him. The glow slowly vanishes to reveal a small, flying creature just above the ring and box. It had different shades of orange decorating its body and was sporting a comb on its head, along with a few feathers for a tail. The small yellow beak completed its rooster like resemblance.

The Kwami of the Rooster Miraculous, Orikko, opened his eyes and let out a happy squeak before rushing to hug Nathaniel’s face, pulling a surprised laugh out of the boy.

“Well hello to you too. Come on, I saw you two days ago, it’s not like I haven’t seen you in months.” 

“Don’t Care! I missed you!” Orikko chirped, clinging onto the redhead’s nose with his arms and legs until he was gently pushed off. Nathaniel grinned as he held his little friend back with his fingertip, letting out a laugh when the Kwami tried to bypass it to get back to his face.

“Well we can hang out later, I need you to do me a favour first.” Nathaniel told him, pulling back when he felt and saw his friend settle down. Picking up the bandanna, he took Plagg’s box from Master Fu, who had been silently watching the exchange with amused eyes and balanced it within the centre of the strip of fabric. Tying the ends into a bow, he showed off the handmade carrier bag to Orikko.

“I need you to deliver Plagg to his new holder’s room within the mansion just behind you.” Nathaniel said, nodding to the building in question. He turned to the box of mini cakes and opening the lid to take out one of them. It was vanilla based with sickly yellow and greyish white chunks inside and icing on top, two triangles representing ears stuck out from the sides. It Reeked.

“He can also have his cupcake that was for later, no one sane would want to eat it anyway.” Nathaniel added with a grimace, balancing the cupcake on top of Plagg’s box and covering his nose with the sleave of his jacket when the smell finally hit him. No matter how many times he has been around the disgusting cheese, his sense of smell refuses to get used to it.

“OK.” Orikko cheers, floating forward to grab the cloth by the knot, sinking a little from the weight before adjusting himself. “Which room is his?”

“Ah…not sure.” Nathaniel admitted, taking a step backwards to look back at the towering house.

“All the windows are open, go look through them. Try and find a room with posters or maybe a video game console, Adrien is bound to have something like that if he is an actual teenager.” He suggested in the end. 

“And make sure to drop those off without being seen. In and out.”  
Orikko gave him a solute with a “Yes Sir!” before turning around and slowly floating upwards, bandana, Plagg and a cupcake in hand as he moved towards the mansion. Repacking the treats, the two parties observed the Kwami as he approached the first window and proceeded to move on to the next one after peering in after a few seconds. They continued to watch in silence for a few more minutes before the younger broke it with a sigh.

“Are you sure about your decision Master? There is still time.” Nathaniel wasn’t referring to Master Fu’s decisions in miraculous holders and when the elder man turned to face him, placing a hand on his shoulder, he could tell the other knew what he was implying.

“I have made my decision, I’m going to stick with it.” Fu tells him, his voice offering no room for second guessing or regrets as he offers Nathaniel a smile and a pat.  
Nathaniel could only give a shaky smile at his master’s confidence in his decision, unable to offer up his own concerns on the matter before the small figure of Orikko was racing back towards them now empty handed. Nathaniel offered a hand as a surface of rest, which Orikko immediately plops done onto with relieved puff of air.

“Fwu! I found it! It was on the second floor, no one was there so I placed Plagg and his cake on the table in front of the TV. It was so cool! There were loads of those big video game boxes, you know those ones that were near the claw game in the shopping mall? He also had a rock-climbing set and a library!” Orikko rapidly started explaining what the other boy’s room was like with stars in his eyes. Nathaniel, seeing a distraction from his previous worries, emersed himself with Orikko’s discovery, also finding himself in awe (and slight jealousy) as the Kwami continued. At some point though he found himself eyeing the other in suspicion, felling like something was missing.

“We should head back to my place, now that the new heroes have been chosen, we must make the other change official.” Commented Master Fu, putting an ended to the other two individual’s small geek out. The older man turned away from the pair to start walking in the direction of his home.

Nathaniel nodded with an eye roll, again being left behind. Sliding the bag back over his shoulder and catching up to Master Fu so he could walk beside him. Orikko let out a small whine when the red head brought the Kwami up to his hidden jacket pocket, saying how he wanted Nathaniel to continue holding him or at least let him sit on his shoulder.

“Sorry Orikko, it’s the pocket or back into the box. We are about to pass a pretty busy part of the city and you know the drill. It won’t take too long, then you can have your treat with the others. Actually, speaking of the treats. Where is my Avatar bandana I gave you to deliver Plagg and his?” It finally dawned on him why he felt like something was missing. Orikko came back too empty handed.

While Nathaniel did love the bandana, he wasn’t too fussed about losing it when comparing it to one of his books or art pieces. Hell, he had been eyeing a newer one while online shopping a few days ago. He would be lying however if the thought of leaving the fabric within the Agreste manor didn’t make him anxious. He’s not sure if it would happen but he doesn’t think it’s impossible for Adrien or anyone in there to track it back to him with a DNA test.

A buzzing in his hip momentarily pulled Nathaniel away from his inner thoughts and the Kwami’s wave of apologies, who had now escaped his hand and was flying rapidly in circles around his head. Reaching into his pants pocket, he pulled out his phone and turned it on to see the new notification.

“No point worrying about it now Orikko. Master, we chose a good time to start heading back.” Nathaniel stated, holding the phone out in front of him so the elder man could see it, Orikko paused in his laps to also see the phone as Nathaniel clicked on the link provided for the full announcement.

It was a City-wide warning for all civilians to go home and stay indoors due to a stone creature roaming around and damaging property in what appeared to be a fit of rage. Under the announcement were 3 live videos, one was from a helicopter camera which was viewing the raging monster from above, another was from what Nathaniel can assume to be a news van which was following from a distance, the other one was a shaky camera and it was filming a group of policeman.

Master Fu hummed as Nathaniel pulled his phone back when another notification popped up.  
“It would seem Nooro’s current owner is already making their move. They work fast.” Fu mused, narrowing his eyes in thought. He had not expected all of this to happen so quickly.

“Let’s go to my house instead. My dad’s not home and we can watch the news on the TV rather than my phone.” Nathaniel suggested, opening his messages app to see one new text from his friend Jukeka.

 **Darkness Incarnated** – Where are you? A rock monster came out of nowhere from within the school and is now rampaging around destroying everything. The class has been evacuated and no one has seen you. 

Nathaniel smiled at the concern is friend was showing. Getting halfway through his own reply, a sudden rumble from the ground had him and Master Fu stumbling and quickly trying to regain their balance. Orikko let out a sound of worry as another tremble followed along with an inhuman yell. Looking towards the noise, Nathaniel spies a car flying into the air and barley missing a helicopter. The shock waves on the ground continued and the redhead could now see the monsters head peeking over some of the buildings. Nathaniel marvelled at the fact that the mini earthquakes were being made just by the creature walking before quickly finishing and shooting off his text.

 **Future Hentai Artist** – I’m near the Le Grand Paris. I wasn’t at school today cause I had to run errands. I just received the city-wide notification and saw the thing Yeet a car at a chopper, are you and everyone else ok? 

**Darkness Incarnated** – I’m ok and as far as I know, our class is fine. Rose and I have made it to my house and we are watching the news now with my family.

“I think that is our que to leave. Your house is definitely more desirable in this instance. Good thing I bought the Miracle box with me.” Master Fu agreed to the boy’s earlier statement, managing to stabilize himself against the shaking ground. Having already gotten use to trembles, Nathaniel looked away from his phone to hiss at him through his teeth, directing a glare to the elder man for talking so casually about the ancient item out in the open after it was just confirmed Akumas have been released and were now effecting people of the city. Even with everyone distracted by the monster, they shouldn’t take any chances with the possibility of Nooro’s new user hearing them through their butterflies.

Looking to find his own Kwami, who was still freaking out in the air, he opened his jacket to expose his hidden pocket once again, an unspoken order in his eyes. Orikko didn’t take long to see this and wasted no time in flying over to slip into the pocket, out of sight. Another notification went off from his phone, yet another message from Juleka.

 **Darkness Incarnated** – Stay where you are and hide. The monster is heading towards where you are, Luka is rushing to grab his bike keys now.

 **Future Hentai Artist** – No, stay inside. I can see the police blocking off the area, Luka won’t be let in. I can make it back to my house without crossing paths with it.

Slipping the phone back into his pant pocket and gripping tighter onto his bag, he looked to Master Fu and raised an eyebrow. A silent challenge.

“Think you can run all the way there?” The boy asked, bending his knees and getting into position to run. Master Fu huffed at him, adjusting his hold on the staff so he wasn’t leaning on it.

“I may be 186 years old, but I wasn’t Wayzz’s holder for nothing.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well...this chapter ended up being longer then expected. I was only suppose to have 2 chapters for this episode of ML but it looks like I'll have 3.  
> I've been re-watching the show to remember what happens and see what Nathaniel does and I couldn't stop myself laughing because he seems to always be gone, reaching funnily to the situations or just straight up asleep in the back.  
> Anyway, Hope you enjoy!


	3. I'm Sorry

Hey.

So, its been a few months since the last update, and while I don’t like leaving people waiting and then not delivering I unfortunately have to be a bringer of bad news.  
I will unfortunately be taking a break from this project and from Miraculous Ladybug itself. The reason, without going into too much detail, I had recently had a falling out with a friend for the stupidest reasons over the show and I just need to distance it from myself for a bit.

It won’t be forever, I do love the show and I already have plans drafted for future chapters of this story. For now, though, this work of mine will be on hold.  
I'm Sorry.

**Author's Note:**

> So this is my first Fic, What do you think?  
> Ever since I read through Sinnamon_Troll's discord chat about Nathaniel being the Guardian of the miraculous box I have been dying to write this.  
> I am planning to add more chapters and upload as often as I can but I am currently doing a diploma so the pace might change.
> 
> Hope you enjoy!


End file.
